the Messiah comes and transforms people. Until then, why not wear durable fabrics and furs and leather? Rubber thongs cloth tennis shoes are okay for beaches, but good leather shoes are preferable for durability. God's concern is that the animals be killed humanely for their meat and/or skins. God does not want animals to be worshipped like in India instead of being used for food and milk and garments and other uses. Without hooves, where would gelatin come from? You eat jello? You want that banned? You eat capsules for medicine doses? Most come from gelatin, but some are made from cellulose. You want to ban capsules? It gets absurd. What is needed is enforcement of sumane animal killing, not the banning of using animals which is more in the idol worship department. Ah yes, the Greenies worship the earth, so they should stop eating and drinking and disintegrate into dust since that is what they worship.

the Prophet said. So why should his followers? The Lord wears a white garment with a golden girdle over the paps. He has been wearing that since before creation and will continue to wear it after the Messiah delivers Israel as the Lion of Judah. But YOU think the Haredim should change their garment styles when the Lord they worship does not?

are you wearing leather?- Shoes are ok- but fur coats and hats in summer, in the desert? Really, so we are talking religious garb- where does it say REAL FUR? It is the look that is important, not the material, right? I agree with you about humane killing.... animals for food- but not for not adornments- that is for pride, appearance, to improve ones look- so is this really in accordance with religious rules? Just wondering!

uses of animals . Furs are'n necessary , they can be replaced by synthetic materials . Cows are slaughtered for their meat and the leather is used for shoes . Necessary In Jelly [ Jam ] the gelatin can , and is , replaced by pectin , checked on the two brands i have in my frig .

Without taking any sides in the fur debate (personally i am against fur) there is absolutely nothing Jewish about the shtriemel. In fact, the custom to wear the shtriemel is ok so long as the wearer realizes there is nothing Jewish about it. Once the wearer calls in a Jewish custom, he has violated the Jewish law against adding Mitzvoth to the Torah. Thus, MK Moses, who calls the Shtriemel a religious article is violating the Torah. Quite frankly, it is getting a little ridiculous to see people in the Middle East dress like its Poland. Moshe Rabbenu, if he were to see this, would be so confused.

her (synthetic petroleum based fabric) when a kitchen fire broke out. The synthetic fabric MELTED into the skin. Synthetic fabrics are dangerous and should be banned, while fur and cotton are less flammable. Pectin is a thickening agent, but it is not used for medicinal capsules.

Agree with Michael Steiner. A Talit Katan and a Kippa are the only Halachic technicalities that a Male Jew has to wear, including clothes without 'loud slogans' like some of today's tee shirts.

We live in a connected world, so if there are animals being severely abused for things such as fur, it's almost a given that there are also people being abused in close range. These are usually the poor and the weak. Also when you see these guys beating little baby seals to death in front of their mothers, there's no way that they are going to have a normal psychological profile. It's just an amazingly cruel industry, and people such as the Haredim would get closer to their beliefs and be making the world a better place just by using faux fur.

we are talking about furs for LUXE , unnecessary . Capsules can be made from other materials too . They are necessary

Let them use artificial furs. Actually, in our climate they should give up their mode of dress for a more appropriate one.

and all of you who posted the obvious and expected anti-chareidi comments; HELLO- you just played right into the hands of the author. I really don't understand why this is newsworthy.

not as sick as the rest of the country- every week there is a new demand-challenge- threat.... one weirder than the one before. The world in Israel does seem to evolve around Haredi demands-. Can you blame people for starting to question the mindset and sanity of people like this? The 21st century with a Medieval and older mindset. You are right- it is not newsworthy- it is also not worthy of a modern and progressive country - this is why people get upset about trivial stuff like this.

Actually, it is an important challenge that they are facing. Are they going to go with their basic underlying beliefs or are they going to stick to tradition? In the olden days, I'm sure that they did not have have the choices and the responsibilities that they do now. It's a new day.

They are reporting statements made by Haredim. The Haredim are not denying it. The ones who dress like Polish (antisemitic) noblemen of centuries gone by are proud of it and want to protect their "right" to do that. So what's antisemitic about reporting it?

what is religious about wearing a hat that gentile Slavs wore 400 years ago? there is NOTHING religious about it- DId Moses wear a streimel? This is rediculous? Whar about the Laws of Noah that prohibit the maiming of animals? Skinning alive an animal is a horrible thing to do and is prohibited by Jewish law! These "hasidim" care for nothing other than their self-ghettoization!

Some do use synthetic fur. This was featured in another forum say 3 weeks ago, and it was documented that a major hasidic stream accepted synthetic in protest of the high prices.

thanks for the reminder. So this should settle this dispute: if more synthetic fur hats are used anyway- 1) there is NO NEAD for real fur hats 2) there is no problem with people loosing their lifelihood- they have already lost it before- or they adapted and are using synthetics. So WHAT WAS THE OUTRAGE ALL ABOUT? Summer getting too hot? Nothing better to do?

Many of these animals are SKINNED ALIVE! How does anyone who allegedly abides by Tza'ar ba'alei chaim reconcile this? Shame on anyone who wears fur in this day and age. Learn more about our responsibility as Jews: http://www.asacredduty.com/ Rina Deych The only kosher diet is a VEGAN one!

Shame on you moshe. The question is why does Israel need misguided people like you?

Can you explain to us why haridim are needed ? Some contribute , because of mitzwoth . And all the others ? Studying ? praying ? What's the necessity of this ? how much GDP do this bring ?